When we started Springs Homes, we aimed to create a “Client-Centric” company. One where both agents and staff could do what they are best at; for agents, this meant dealing with buyers and sellers. For staff, it meant focusing on their respective specialties like transaction management or real estate marketing.
This meant we needed to have the flexibility and independence found in a boutique or independent real estate company. While large franchise companies are a popular option for many, the strict structure associated with these types of companies meant they would not be an option for us.
We felt like the pace of changes in our industry required a company that could change direction quickly and the franchise structure wouldn’t allow that. Most big companies put the transaction’s responsibility squarely on the agent’s shoulders. This means they are responsible for the entire process from start to finish. No agent can possibly master the list of skills required to effectively price, market, negotiate, sell, and close a transaction. We also knew that agents who tried to do all this were dropping the ball somewhere, usually in the customer service category.
Our focus was to create an environment where, as a company, our experts could handle the day to day tasks of real estate transaction management and marketing so the agents could put their focus back on providing their clients with exceptional service.
The result was a company where our agents fiercely represent their clients — our neighbors — ensuring that they get the very best we have to offer and that their interests are ethically and fairly served. We’re highly competitive. But behind closed doors, we’re a collaborative, diverse group of Realtors who actively support each other and thrive on new ideas.
Our staff consists of specialists that understand the ins and outs of the real estate business from marketing to transaction management. Our agents and our clients can rest assured that each element of the transaction is being handled by a true professional.
In the process of building Springs Homes, we discovered even more advantages to working at and with a boutique real estate company.
The freedom to move quickly in the direction our local market is taking us was an exciting discovery for us. For example, during the recession, many of our clients needed to move but couldn’t sell their homes, they didn’t want to go the short sale route or face foreclosure. Putting the home in a property management program was the best option. Unfortunately, property management companies were swamped and in many cases unable to even return calls for new business. It was obvious to us that we needed to start a property management company in order to help our clients.
In a large franchise operation, it would have taken months to get to the point where we could have started managing properties, at which point, some of our clients would have been in serious trouble. As an independent boutique company, we were able to start a property management company in a matter of weeks, hiring a professional property manager and helping our clients out of a rough situation.
The size of our company allows us to standardize our level of service to the highest common denominator. We don’t have to exclude our median and lower-priced listings from the same level of service as the luxury homes we sell. Our job is to present your home in the best possible light and we do this using professional photography, 3-D virtual tours, and video walkthroughs. We own the equipment and employ the photographers, so we don’t need to pick and choose who gets full-service vs. limited service based on price. All of our clients receive the best possible experience.
The 3-D virtual tour has been a staple of our online marketing efforts for a couple of years. During the recent COVID-19 outbreak, it became an invaluable tool. While other companies’ agents were scrambling to schedule tour providers to get into their listings to create these tours, all of our properties were already online with virtual tours. This was important to our clients because we were able to sell properties based on virtual tours. We were selling houses without exposing our clients to the virus while other companies were scrambling.
Another benefit to a boutique company is being around professionals with real expertise in their niche and the ability to learn from it. The family atmosphere that exists in a smaller company is an ideal place to share knowledge and ideas. The cross-pollination of ideas and experiences make a boutique company an exciting and energizing place to work.
Boutique companies also provide a safety net around the company business, when an agent needs some support or help with a particular buyer or seller, the boutique environment is an ideal place to find this type of assistance. It’s not unusual to find a boutique broker helping out with showing or an open house for another broker’s client or transaction.
It’s not that we are anti-big real estate company, we have just found that being a part of a small boutique firm is a comfortable fit and our clients have seen the results from this type of brokerage. If you would like to learn more about working at or with a Boutique Real Estate Company, please feel free to contact us, we’d be happy to talk to you about why it’s such a great choice.
